Secret Santa Project: Snowdrop
by Chosha Kurenai
Summary: A Secret Santa Project Story for MalencholicBlueBird. Based in an AU where Sasuke is placed in the Hyuuga's care after the Uchiha's deaths. Sasuke is like the Snow.... Sasuke x Hinata


**Chosha's Notes**

Hello, this is a fanfic created for the secret Santa project. For those who are wondering what the secret Santa project was, Please refer to my profile. As it is, this story is a present for **MelancholicBlueBird** for Christmas. Its also something of a pilot fic for a story that I've been considering called 'The Paper Fan Hyuuga' where Sasuke was placed into the care of the Hyuuga's after the Uchiha are killed. As you might have guessed, this will be a Sasuke x Hinata fic. I used to think the paring an odd one, since the two of them have barely exchanged words before. However, I think that if they had, it might have worked. Thus came the idea for 'The Paper Fan Hyuuga'. And as it was requested as a paring for the secret Santa, It gave me the opportunity to try it. Of course, it needed to be a one hot, so I came up with this winter-based one shot based in that AU world. If things go well with this fic, not only will it be a nice present to **MelancholicBlueBird**, but it will also give me a hint as to if I should continue and make the full length version.

So, to **MelancholicBlueBird**, enjoy your fic and Merry Christmas to you!

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**Snowdrop**

**A Secret Santa Project Fanfic**

**By**

**Chosha Kurenai**

Cold.

That was the first thing that Hyuuga Hinata thought about the lone Uchiha Survivor that day.

Not that this was the first time she had ever seen Uchiha Sasuke of course. Sasuke was the top of her class, and even at that young age, he was already attracting most of the classes female population with his cute looks that could easily turn into being handsome when he grew up, and he had a kind of presence that you noticed. However, Hinata had never been close to Sasuke. He had always been studying and practicing so he could live up to the overwhelming reputation of Uchiha being genius', or generally avoiding Fan girls with a precision that amazed Hinata sometimes. Meanwhile Hinata herself had always been trying to keep up with her academic scoring since her practical scores were close to abysmal due to her lacking confidence. And when she wasn't doing that she was generally watching Naruto, who's confidence and will were something of an inspiration for her.

However, this had been the first time that Hinata had seen Sasuke since the horrible incident that had later come to be known as the Uchiha Massacre. She remembered that day when Sasuke hadn't shiown up to the academy, which had been strange because Sasuke never missed class. He was never late, and yet that day he never showed up at all. The Teachers had said it was something personal for Sasuke and not to bother him when he came back to class. However, a couple of days later, and Sasuke hadn't returned to class. However, that evening, Hinata, along with Hanabi, found themselves looking at Sasuke from behind their father. The Uchiha was with the Hokage, who's hand was on his shoulder like a steadying presence for him. And when she looked into his face she almost shivered at the carefully controlled expression, but what unnerved her most was his eyes. Blank, icy, controlled.

Cold.

That had been the day Hinata had discovered that the Hokage had placed the Last Uchiha in the care of the Hyuuga after his whole family had been whipped out by his own brother.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Fragile.

It wasn't a word that Hinata would have thought would have fit Sasuke if one had asked her about it before Sasuke started to live with them and for a little while, she still wouldn't have believed it at all. She had seen him stare down some of the Hyuuga who seemed disdainful to have an Uchiha, a member of a clan that had been rivals with them for years, amongst them, and had even seen some back off. He'd shown no fear in front of them that Hinata felt the same kind of adoration she had for Naruto go towards him also. What she wouldn't give to have that kind of control over herself. When he wasn't studying vigilantly at the academy, he would be studying and practicing back at the Hyuuga compound almost until he was ready to drop, and pushing his physical boundaries that it made her worry that he would kill himself, but he still pushed through with a determination she had never seen before. She had even seen him face down a disdainful Neji and while not win exactly, it had at least come to a stalemate.

Sasuke was really not someone you tagged the word 'fragile' to.

However, Hinata soon learned that not even the strongest of people remained strong all the time.

It was when she had been hurrying to do some work she had forgotten to do for the next day and fear of her Father's wrath had kept her up until it was dark and everyone had already gone to bed as she scribbled down her work, hoping that she would be able to finish it in time to hand it in the next day.

Finally finished, Hinata stretched slightly and glanced at the clock on the wall, noticing that it was already very late and unless she wanted to be falling asleep in class the next day then she would need sleep. She had just laid down, closing her eyes when she heard a strange sound and she jumped up, clutching her blankets to herself fearfully, wondering what the sound was. She'd never heard that sound at all at night. Again the sound came, heartbreaking and mournful that she shivered. Hearing the sound again, she got up to investigate. Clutching her blanket to her like it was a shield, she crept over to the door and pushed it open gently, peering out. The sounds came again and without the door in the way she could hear the sonds. Was that…..crying?

Confused, Hinata headed over to the place where the sounds was coming from and peered inside.

She almost fainted in shock.

Sasuke.

He was curled up in a tangle of blankets, perspeeration on his forehead and his face twisted with more emotion than she had seen from him since he joined them, as if in agony, tears tracking down his face as he sobbed alone, his dreams filled with terrors that he kept silent in the day, seeing things horrifying, more horrifying than a nightmare, because when you woke up, it would still be real.

And she realised that he really was fragile, because as strong as he appeared on the outside, on the inside he had been torn and cracked and broken.

Hinata found that she never did get to go to sleep that night, her mind on the boy who's innocence had been stripped away.

And her heart ached, her eyes weeping, because she knew that when he woke, he would never show his fragile state to anyone, no matter how much it tore him inside.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Gentle.

Hinata was amazed that the word could be applied to him. In the time he had stayed with them, Sasuke had been many things, outwardly strong, stubborn, never gave up. He faced any challenge given to him with a grit and determination that rivalled that of Naruto's, yet did it all with a seriousness and concentration that amazed her. He portrayed a cold front as a kind of protection, though inwardly was fragile from the horrors that the Uchiha Massacre must have left on his psyche. While she was slowly getting to know him, his black cold stare usually reduced her to stuttering terribly as she tried to talk to him and he would stand their patiently until she stuttered into silence again.

"If you're going to say something, hurry up and say it," he said finally. "We're not mind readers. Speak up."

Of course she would just flush and stutter an apology for wasting his time, nerve lost and dart off, face inventing a few new shades of red out of humiliation.

He had already been there a couple of months and Hinata had barely spoken to him. He wanted to talk with him about his fears and try to help him heal instead of locking it all away into his mind until he broke. However, instead she only ever lost her nerve and Sasuke would make a harsh comment like that reducing her to bolting and forgetting about her little mission for the time being.

However, she didn't get any significant of it until that day. It was during the stormy months in Konoha that happened during the autumn seasons and Hinata had always been horribly afraid of storms. The loud sounds, the flashes of light, they would send her into terrors and she would bolt for cover, hiding under the table in the kitchen hiding under the table cloth subbing and shivering until it was all over.

That day was different, however. When the storm came she bolted to the kitchen, diving under the table and shook, clapping hands over her head and sobbing. However, she hadn't been ignored or missed this time and she almost jumped out of her skin when the table cloth was thrown up and lightning showed the face of their resident Uchiha with a raised eyebrow and unreadable dark eyes.

"S-S-Sasuk-" she started when the lightning and thunder came again and she screamed, screwing up her eyes and tightening her hands around herself as if the self-hug would prevent her from being hit by lightning.

"Baka," he snorted, before he too came under the table, sitting down next to her. He watched her a moment, then rolled his eyes and yanked her over. She yelped, suddenly finding her cheek pressed against his toned chest and she felt her face heat up when hias arm came around her and his rough, calloused hands capable of harming and hurting covered her ears in an almost tender manner and her eyes widened as she no longer heard the sounds of the thunder. They sounded distant over the pulse she could hear from Sasuke's wrists and chest, strong, steady, calming, and she found herself beginning to relax against him, the tears slowing, her panic calming.

She had never thought of him as gentle before, but she knew now that he was.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Captivating.

He most certainly was a captivating person. The way he moved was like a cat, graceful, deadly. He was handsome to the point of being beautiful with his pale skin and contrasting dark hair and eyes and he was a cold calculating genius, ho could be sarcastic and even a little witty at times , yet he was also fragile and gentle.

She had to wonder what his fan girls would think about these assessments of him. They would probably try and accuse her of 'stealing their man'. But that wasn't it. It was true that the time she spent watching him had increased so it was on par with the time she watched Naruto, but for different reasons. Naruto was a source of inspiration, someone she looked up to for being confident and for his happy-go-lucky never give up attitude that she wished she herself had. Her reasons for watching Sasuke she couldn't really explain. True she looked up to him also, for his effortless nature, his determination. He was in essence all things that made a Ninja, a person who was a mass of contradictions that one had to look under his many layers to find his true nature under the cold, icy front.

He was captivating.

Even when it was decided that he would have to have the Hyuuga caged bird seal (he was not a Hyuuga head person, but knew more than any other outsider about Hyuuga secrets, they needed to keep them protected somehow), he hadn't panicked or made a fuss though the death glares that the people who placed it on him got would have made anyone drop dead on the spot if looks could kill, his control over his pained cries as it was placed on him was commendable and made him seem eve more so.

Hinata, of course, looked after him. She had insisted on doing so, surprising her family members with the fact the timid girl could be so forceful. Perhaps her time pending watching those two boys was doing her some good.

Placing the wet cloth on his forehead to cool the burning from the caged bird seal she cared for him silently. Of course in his relaxed state after having fallen unconscious allowed her to study him more than she had done before. His dark hair wasn't a pure black, but tinged blue like raven's wings. His face still had the curves of childhood in it, but one could already tell that when he grew older his face would grow more handsome with age. His skin was porcaline white and his lashes cast shadows under his eyes. His wide necked top removed, his body was tonned and muscular in a lythe sleak kind of way that reminded her of a cat or a similar kind of preditor.

Of course she was sure all the blood she had in her body had jumped to her face and was lightning up the dull room in a deep red glow, but she couldn't take her eyes off him even after he had woken up and blearily locked eyes with her, murmering a faint thanks before drifting into a normal sleep.

Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was truly captivating.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Snow.

It was a sudden thought, but Hinata realised as she knelt in the windowsill staring out at the snowflakes drifting down onto the white world that the word really did apply to him. All the words that she ever used to describe the Uchiha were all words to describe the white substance that floated down onto the white blanketed earth

Such a pure and innocent thing. The crystalline formations fluttered from the sky gently like tiny feathers that floated down from the clouds, dancing gently with the movements of the breeze. Of course, it was cold. Snow was, in essence, frozen water after all, its untouchable appearance was like Sasuke's cold front, making him seem untouchable by human hands. Fragile. After all, snowflakes were small twined patterns of water and while could stick together and form various things, it was ultimately easily broken, the beautiful forms easily changed. It was gentle as it floated down yet, like sasuke, it could become harsh and deadly as a blizzard. It was captivating also, the dance the snowflakes did in the air was hypnotic and she felt she could watch it for hours, just like she found that, of late, she could watch Sasuke for hours. The snow was also very rare in Konoha. Being in Fire country, naturally the atmosphere was generally mild at all times of the year, so snow rarely made its appearance, even in winter. In fact this was the first time it had appeared in years, since she had been a small child. And Sasuke was just as rare as the snow. Really, it was rare that a mass of contradictions that made up Uchiha Sasuke would come along.

Part of her thought that maybe she should take Sasuke to the snow. Maybe it would help her learn more and more about him than she normally would do. Smiling to herself as she wrapped a scarf around her and pulled on a coat and gloves, she hurred off out of her room and headed towards the place Sasuke lived now. When they had graduated from the academy, Sasuke had moved out of the main house to his own apartment close by and Hinata had been over there many times checking up on him, making sure he wasn't working himself too hard and was there with healing ointments when he had. Breath coming out in small burst of condensation in the cold air she hurried over and knocked onto the door hard. Soon it was answered by a slightly grumpy looking Sasuke. Obviously she had interrupted him in reading or something. However, the Snow had put her in a happy mood that couldn't be dampened by Sasuke's mood.

"S-Sasuke-kun," she said excitedly. "It's S-snowing,"

Sasuke blinked, then blinked again, before looking up at the sky almost surprised.

Honestly, had he not even realised it? Of course he'd pronbebly been studying or reading again and not noticed, wrapped up in his own world. If she had been more confident, like sakura or Ino, she would have rolled her eyes, but instead she just smiled happily at Sasuke's 'huh?' as if he was not sure what the fact it was snowing had to do with anything.

"Its S-snowing," she repeated. "How many y-years has it been s-since it s-snowed last?" she gave him pleading eyes. "W-will you come out into the S-snow with me?" she asked.

"Why me?" he grumbled. "I'm not interested in snow. Why don't you take Neji-"

"No," she said stubbornly, obviously surprising Sasuke with her forcefulness. She didn't want to take Neji. Neji wouldn't understand. She wanted to take Sasuke, because he would understand, at least once he agreed to come with her. "N-neji-niisan's busy anyway," she said. "Please S-sauke-kun? B-before the S-snow stops falling"

Sasuke sighed, rubbing the bandage wrapped around his forehead that covered the caged bird seal (He rarely wore his Hitae ate outside of missions after all). "….fine…." he grumbled. "Just wait a bit, I can't go out like this," he added, meaning his T-shirt and trousers he was wearing.

"Thank you S-sasuke-kun," she said, clasping her hands together, cheeks flushed with excitement and smiling.

"Hn," Sasuke snorted out, pulling on his coat and shoes.

"P-please Hurry up," she said. She wouldn't be able to show him what she wanted if he didn't come. Still grumbling things like you could see if from the window, he qickly zipped up his coat and followed her out of the door. Clasping his hand, though she knew her face was red, she lead him through the streets. The longer they walked, the more confused Sasuke seemed.

"Just how far are you planning to go?" he asked incredulously.

"J-just a little father," she told him. "To a higher place. I wanted t-to see the S-snow with you, S-sasuke-kun.

He snorted again, looking away, though a tiny flush appeared on his cheeks too.

Eventually they reached a higher place and Hinata lead Sasuke to the edge of the bridge, showing the frozen river underneath. Standing in the middle looking up, they could see the snow falling, painting the ground and trees in glistening silver. "Isn't it p-pretty, S-Sasuke-kun?" She said, reaching out to touch the falling snowdrop. "You know, S-sasuke-kun is like the Snow."

Sasuke spluttered in shock, his dark eyes ripping away from the sky to look at her incredulously, the hand still lightly held in hers jerking ever so slightly, showing his surprise even though she wasn't looking at him. "N-nani?" he spluttered.

"You're like the snow," she repeated. "You always come across as being s-so cold and harsh, but they aren't the only w—words to describe t-the Snow." She told him shyly. "Snow is fragile, yet untouchable, its gentle sometimes, b-but harsh when it has to be. I-it's also captivating also. I…..I like the snow, S-sakue-kun. A-and I thought that….you might like it….to…." she finished lamely.

Suddenly she found an arm come around her and pul her close. She yelped as her face turned crimson as it was pressed against the other's coat, his body heat could be felt through the material. She could feel a cool cheek against hers and she realised that Sasuke, THE Uchiha Untouchably cold Sasuke was embracing her.

"Baka," he snorted softly, hand still holding her's squeasing slightly. "I'm not interested in the snow," he said. At first her heart dropped until he continued. "It doesn't last for long. I'm more interested in the sun."

For a moment she didn't realise what he meant, before it clicked and she found herself flushing more, yet grinning happily, tears in her eyes.

Because after all, when in the Presence of the Sun, the cold of the snow will melt away.

**Owari.**

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**Chosha's Notes**

Ok, if you didn't quite get the ending, I'll tell you what I meant. As you probably guessed, the majority of the story was Hinata's comparisons of Sasuke to snow.

Now, there s one coparison that should be made when you look at Hinata's name meaning.

The name Hyuuga means 'Towards the Sun' while Hinata means 'a sunny place' so when snow is with a sunny place it melts. Lol. I've never done a Sasuke x Hinata before, so I hope I did a good job of it. The basic inspiration was a doujinshi called 'Omote', which was actually a Sasuke x Sakura story. I liked the Doujinshi and I couldn't help but think about it in this context when I wanted to do a wintery one shot. I hope you all enjoyed it, especially you, MalencholicBlueBird!

Merry Christmas everyone!


End file.
